Srijit Mukherji remains at the helm, but the story has moved to the Indo-Pak border.

Srijit Mukherji’s Bengali film Rajkahini (2015) is being remade in Hindi as Begum Jaan. Vidya Balan will play the lead role of a cantankerous madam who runs a brothel. Rajkahini’s story is set in 1947, when a British legislation on the partition of Bengal interferes with the location of the brothel, which is situated on barren land bordering India and what was then East Pakistan and later Bangladesh. The Hindi remake is also being directed by Mukherji and produced by Vishesh Films. The setting has shifted from Bengal to the India-Pakistan border.

Rituparna Sengupta plays the central character of Begum Jaan in Rajkahini. She runs the brothel with an iron fist and wages a war against officials trying to evict her from the land. Police and politicians get involved in the fracas, which turns the border dispute into a full-fledged battleground. The high-voltage denouement, involving smoking barrels and blazing fires, is a spectacular display of the human spirit.

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The trailer of ‘Rajkahini’.

The introductory sequence in Rajkahini, in which Begum Jaan is shown enjoying a massage by a masseuse, bears a resemblance to Lihaaf, Ismat Chughtai’s controversial Urdu short story from 1942. In Lihaaf, a bored housewife named Begum Jaan employs the services of a masseuse. But the similarity ends there. The film borrows its title from the children’s book Rajkahini by Abanindranath Tagore.

Rajkahini thinly references two women-centric films. In Shyam Benegal’s Mandi (1983), politicians bicker over a prime piece of property that houses a brothel run by a foul-mouthed madam (Shabana Azmi). Mandi was based on the Hollywood movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) as well as on Ghulam Abbas’s Urdu story Anandi.

In Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala (1987), set in the 1940s, a local tax collector (Naseeruddin Shah) harasses a group of women, especially Smita Patil’s Sonbai, who work at a local spice factory. When the women find themselves trapped in the crumbling factory, they retaliate.

Rajkahini is engagingly conceived but poorly executed. While it does provide ample fodder for imagination when almost a dozen women are put under one roof, the movie suffers from overwrought dialogue and stagey performances. However, it’s not without its merits when commenting on divisive politics, the caste system, moral hypocrisy, injustice and the position of women in society.

‘Rajkahini’.

In September 2015, the makers of Rajkahini used the Indian national anthem in its entirety for a promotional video before its release in October 2015. The music video assembled several singing stars to give voice to five stanzas that have been left out from the national anthem.

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‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’.

Begum Jaan has a fine line to tread, keeping in view Rajkahini’s exploration of sensitive Hindu-Muslim issues, the use of expletives and the bold themes of inter-personal relationships. The important question is this: what will Pahlaj Nihalani think of the remake?

Why should inclusion matter to companies?

It's not just about goodwill - inclusivity is a good business decision.

To reach a 50-50 workplace scenario, policies on diversity need to be paired with a culture of inclusiveness. While diversity brings equal representation in meetings, board rooms, promotions and recruitment, inclusivity helps give voice to the people who might otherwise be marginalized or excluded. Inclusion at workplace can be seen in an environment that values diverse opinions, encourages collaboration and invites people to share their ideas and perspectives. As Verna Myers, a renowned diversity advocate, puts it “Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.”

Creating a sense of belonging for everyone is essential for a company’s success. Let’s look at some of the real benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace:

Better decision making

A whitepaper by Cloverpop, a decision making tool, established a direct link between inclusive decision making and better business performance. The research discovered that teams that followed an inclusive decision-making process made decisions 2X faster with half the meetings and delivered 60% better results. As per Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino, this report highlights how diversity and inclusion are practical tools to improve decision making in companies. According to her, changing the composition of decision making teams to include different perspectives can help individuals overcome biases that affect their decisions.

Higher job satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is connected to a workplace environment that values individual ideas and creates a sense of belonging for everyone. A research by Accenture identified 40 factors that influence advancement in the workplace. An empowering work environment where employees have the freedom to be creative, innovative and themselves at work, was identified as a key driver in improving employee advancement to senior levels.

Innovation

A research by Catalyst.org stated the in India, 62% of innovation is driven by employee perceptions of inclusion. The study included responses from 1,500 employees from Australia, China, Germany, India, Mexico and the United States and showed that employees who feel included are more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty, suggest new and innovative ways of getting work done.

Competitive Advantage

Shirley Engelmeier, author of ‘Inclusion: The New Competitive Business Advantage’, in her interview with Forbes, talks about the new global business normal. She points out that the rapidly changing customer base with different tastes and preferences need to feel represented by brands. An inclusive environment will future-proof the organisation to cater to the new global consumer language and give it a competitive edge.

An inclusive workplace ensures that no individual is disregarded because of their gender, race, disability, age or other social and cultural factors. Accenture has been a leading voice in advocating equal workplace. Having won several accolades including a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate equality index, Accenture has demonstrated inclusive and diverse practices not only within its organisation but also in business relationships through their Supplier Inclusion and Diversity program.

In a video titled ‘She rises’, Accenture captures the importance of implementing diverse policies and creating an inclusive workplace culture.